Everlasting
by azure-lupis
Summary: The night before James and Lily were attacked. Ficlet


AN: Hey people! Thought I'd post this little HP ficlett. I actually wrote it for a short story assignment in my english class XD. Review if you want. Critisism is always appreciated. I tried to keep it relatively accurate and non-Occ. Happy reading

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all familiar characters are property of the talented J.K Rowling. Sue and all you'll get is a pencil and one piece of paper. XD

**Oct. 30th /1978**

Thunder and lightning lit up the skies as the rain pounded down on soggy October leaves. The village was quiet, most people tucked away in their beds. All but one house were sleeping. The house in question was empty, except for one room. One room that contained five adults and a large amount of tension.

"James…" Said a red haired woman softly. "We need to decide."

"I know, I know, Lily." Mumbled the black haired one, James. The last three occupants perked up slightly at this.

"Why don't you two take a moment to talk?" Suggested a light haired man with a hoarse voice. He was pale and had premature grey streaks in his hair.

Lily and James nodded simultaneously and walked out into the hallway. "Well James? Who do you think?"

James was silent. "Sirius is my best mate." He finally began. They both glanced over to a raven haired man with his face in his hands. "But…Remus is the logical choice, despite his…" James smiled wryly. "Lunar condition."

Lily nodded. "I can see how you came up with that. Voldemort would be most likely to assume we'd pick Sirius as Secret Keeper and go after him. He would never think we'd pick Peter, for…well, reasons." They glanced back into the room again, this time looking at a small, mousey haired man who was shaking.

After a moment of silence, James said, "Well, then I guess we're decided. Remus it is."

Meanwhile, back in the original room, the tension was so thick that you could cut it with Godric Gryffindor's sword. There was the occasional nervous squeak from Peter. Finally Sirius couldn't take it anymore. "Calm down already would you, Peter?" He snapped. Remus gave a small sigh.

"Sirius, Please. This is hard on all of us." He said quietly. Sirius gave Remus a small uncommon glare.

"I'm sure that it's the hardest on you, having all those…orders and all." Remus stared.

"What exactly are you implying?" He asked slowly. Sirius opened his mouth when James and Lily came back. James stared between them, sensing the tension.

"Is something wrong?"

Remus shook his head as Sirius stood up. "Did you decide?" James and Lily nodded.

"Ah…well…" James began. Lily, sensing his discomfort, stepped in. "We've picked Remus." She said bluntly.

Remus stood slowly, as if he didn't comprehend that was being said. "You…me?"

Lily and James nodded. "But…why?" Remus thought for sure they'd pick Sirius.

Sirius, apparently, was thinking along the same lines by the look on his face.

James looked quickly over at Sirius. "Listen Sirius, you know that you're my best mate. But Remus is the reasonable choice."

Sirius frowned and muttered, "Is he now?"

Lily flared up slightly. "Now what on earth are you going on about? Don't you trust our decision?"

Sirius' eyes darkened. "Of course I trust you and James, Lils! It's someone _else_ in this room I don't trust…" He trailed off.

There was a stunned silence. Finally James found his voice. "S-Sirius! You can't possibly… you aren't serious…"

Sirius turned and faced everyone, raising his arms. "Think James. We all know that there is a traitor in our midst. Someone who is keen on handing you, Lily, and Harry over to Voldemort."

Peter squeaked at hearing the Dark Lord's name and looked around nervously as if he could hear them. Remus ignored Peter and stepped around him, facing Sirius. "Meaning me." He stated, getting paler by the minute despite the defiance in his eyes.

Sirius looked him straight in the eyes. "Well, who better to serve the Dark Lord than a dark creature? A werewolf…that's who." He was yelling halfway through but ended up trailing off.

Everyone was stunned at Sirius' outburst. They turned slowly to look at Remus' reaction.

Remus was standing there silently. His face was as pale as the moon and a piece of his fair hair was hanging in front of his face.

"Sirius…" James said softly with wide eyes, completely shocked. "How can you say something like that? You know that Remus would _never_ join the dark side."

Sirius lowered his eyes, but spoke to Remus. "I'm sorry, but I stand by what I said. I wouldn't blame you for accepting an offer from Voldemort. Perhaps a cure to your lycanthropy?"

Lily's mouth fell open. "Sirius Black, how could you-"

"No Lily," Came Remus' soft, hoarse reply. "Better safe than sorry right?" His tone was light and airy but there was a sense of severity and disappointment. He walked towards the door and stopped. Brushing his hair away from his face, he turned his head sideways and said, "But I want you to know Sirius, that I would never have accused _you, _one of my best mates, of being a spy. For the Dark Lord no less."

Sirius felt a pang of guilt as Remus walked out the door without looking back. A soon as the door closed, Lily rounded on Sirius. "I cannot believe you Sirius Black! How could you say something like that to one of your best friends? You've known each other since you were eleven! Would Remus _really_ do something like that? Never!"

Sirius stared at the ground, shame rising like bile in his throat.

James put a hand on his wife's arm. "As much as I hate to admit this, seeing as I've known Remus for just as long, but he _does_ have a point." He was talking slowly and softly, not wanting to get her riled up again. "We don't know who the traitor is, and…well, Remus does seem like a worthy candidate…" He trailed off.

Lily fumed. "I can't believe any of you!" She glared around at James, looking depressed, Sirius, staring at the floor in shame, and Peter, sitting on the floor twitching nervously.

James sighed. "Well, I guess that the only thing to do is to go with our first plan." He turned towards Sirius. "We pick you mate, to be our Secret Keeper."

Sirius' eyes lit up for a split second before darkening again. "No. I think…you should go with Peter."

Peter jumped and squeaked. "I-I really d-don't think…" Sirius smiled darkly.

"Oh come on Peter. Voldemort would never think Lily and James would pick you."  
Lily nodded with a slight apologetic smile. "He's right Peter. Please do this for us." James put his hand on Lily's shoulder.

"Yeah mate. We know you can do this."

Peter sat quietly. Sirius watched him closely. He saw something flash in Peter's eyes before he said, W-well, okay. I'll…I'll do it."

Lily smiled happily, swooped down and kissed Peter on the cheek. "Thank you so much Peter."

James grinned, clapping his hand on Peter's shoulder. "Yeah, thanks mate."

Sirius was staring at Peter, almost regretting his decision. Peter was more jumpy than normal as he made his way to the door. "I should g-go…prepare." He stuttered.

James nodded. "Be careful Peter." The door closed and three were left.

"I should get going too." Said Sirius quietly. "Do you mind if I see Harry before I go?" He had a feeling like it would be the last time he would see Lily and James' son.

They started up the stairs and opened Harry's door quietly. Sirius walked up to the crib silently and peered over the railing. He smiled, folded his arms on the barrier, and started talking to Harry softly. "Hey there Harry. I thought I should come and see you before I left. What sort of godfather would I be if I didn't?" He tried to make his tone sound witty but to no avail. He looked at Harry closely, taking in every detail as if he would never get another chance. "You've got great parents you know. One's who would do anything for you."

"Aw come off it mate. You make it sound like we're going somewhere." James said jokingly. When no one said anything, the unpleasant truth set in. There was a good chance that this would be their last encounter.

Sirius took one last dejected look at Harry before turning around and facing Lily and James. Lily had been crying silently the whole time. James took her hand. "Sirius…you know you've always been my best mate right?"

Sirius could see James' eyes shining. "Oh for heaven's sake, James. We're grown men." He could feel tears stinging his eyes also but refused to let them go. They were silent before Lily sniffed, "Men are so stupid." With that she left the room. James and Sirius stared at each other before laughing. They had tears running down their face, from amusement or not, they didn't know. Finally the hysterics died down.

"Sirius-"

"James-"

They chuckled in unison before embracing like brothers. "I'm going to go into hiding tomorrow with Lily and Harry, mate." Said James into Sirius' shoulder. "I want you to know that we appreciate everything you've done for us." They let go of each other, their eyes red.

"James, you know that I'd do anything for you, Lily and Harry." Sirius said, fighting the need to wipe his eyes with his sleeve.

There was silence before, "Christ James, we're such girls." They burst into hysterics again as they walked down the stairs, arms flung around the other's shoulders.

"Well, I guess that's that then." Sirius walked over to the door and opened it. He turned back to James and Lily who had their arms around each other. "Good luck you two. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Lily laughed and hugged Sirius. "We'll be okay. We promise."

James nodded as Sirius said, "That's right you do. I'll hold you to that." After a few minutes of talking and trying to distract themselves from the worries ahead, Sirius left for what felt would be the last time.

**Oct. 31st /1978**

"Lily, he's here! Grab Harry and run!"

There was a green flash, and a thump. Then silence.

Lily huddled in the corner of Harry's room, holding him tightly. Tears streamed down her face. "James…"

The door exploded open. "No please! Not Harry…take me instead!"

"Foolish girl." Said a soft and mocking voice. Another flash of green light. Lily fell to the ground motionless, eyes wide but seeing nothing.

Little Harry Potter stared up at the dark figure. There was a bright blaze of light, more explosions, and then silence. There was no sign of the Dark Lord.

A few minutes later, all that could be heard was a baby's crying.

Fin


End file.
